My Views & Interesting News

A Blog about My Views. Also about Most Interesting, Amazing, Interesting, Odd, Weird Worldwide News Stories. This Blog is about my Likings & about my independent Views Um! Viuz regarding different situations of life, whether these are social, religious or political. These views Um! Viuz are not influenced by any being or anything.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Now what would you say this report that a Cat is Smuggling Drugs Into the Jail. As per a video:

Prison guards nabbed an audacious cat after it was caught red-handed trying to smuggle two bags of cannabis into a prison in Moldova.
The prison authorities are now looking for the moggy's trainer, who they believe may live in the nearby village of Pruncul and has been supplying inmates with illegal drugs for some time.

The prison officers became suspicious of the grey and white cat, which regularly came and went through a hole in the fence, when they noticed it was wearing a peculiar collar.

Farmers are pinning their future on the often-dreaded insect, which when dried goes for as much as $20 a pound — for use in Asian medicine and in cosmetics. China has about 100 cockroach farms, and new ones are opening almost as fast as the prolific critters breed. But even among Chinese, the industry was little known until August, when a million cockroaches got out of a farm in neighboring Jiangsu province. The Great Escape made headlines around China and beyond, evoking biblical images of swarming locusts.The start-up costs are minimal — Wang bought only eggs, a run-down abandoned chicken coop and the roofing tile. Notoriously hearty, roaches aren't susceptible to the same diseases as farm animals. As for feeding them, cockroaches are omnivores, though they favor rotten vegetables. Wang feeds his brood with potato and pumpkin peelings discarded from nearby restaurants.Perhaps understandably, the cockroach business ("special farming," as it is euphemistically called) is a fairly secretive industry. Wang's farm, for instance, operates in an agribusiness industrial park under an elevated highway. The sign at the front gate simply reads Jinan Hualu Feed Co.
Some companies that use cockroaches don't like to advertise their "secret ingredient." And the farmers themselves are wary of neighbors who might not like a cockroach farm in their backyard.

There’s a lot more space in the Nasser family home following the death of their record-breaking dog Giant George.
The blue Great Dane, was 1.1m (3ft 7in) from paw to shoulders and double that size when on his hind legs.

He died in Tucson, Arizona, just a month before he was due to turn eight.
Announcing his death of Facebook, David and Christie Nasser wrote: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we announce Giant George died last night.
‘George passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

Yes, it's true that a restaurant believed to be America's first toilet-themed eatery has opened just outside Los Angeles. As per one report:The bathroom has been brought into the dining room, with customers sitting on lavatories instead of chairs while they eat.
But the restroom theme does not stop there. The food, which includes pork over rice and spicy shredded chicken, is served in miniature ceramic toilet bowls and urinals.
But diners at the Taiwanese eatery seem to enjoy the experience.
Speaking at the Magic Restroom Cafe, one said: "The way they serve us on top of some toilet dishes and sitting on top of a toilet seat, it's very unique.
"And some people even put their purses inside the toilets, so it's hilarious." Another diner said: "It's really great and interesting for me because we wanted something new to try. This is a good atmosphere for me."
Several similar restaurants are already in operation in various parts of Asia.

As per one report here are bizarre visa questions being asked:A poll by a visa submission website asked travelers to recount the most unusual questions they had ever been asked. Among the strangest, was a question on a Mexican visa form asking the applicant to "describe their beard/mustache." The responses applicants could choose from included "scanty," "bushy" or "clipped." Meanwhile, a man traveling to a Middle Eastern country was asked "how many wives do you intend to bring?" during his application process.
Some seemingly odd questions may have a rational basis for being on the application form -- Australia, for instance, which takes quarantine very seriously, asks if travelers "have been to a farm in the past six weeks." Others just boggle the mind. Several travelers were asked, "What side of the bed does your wife sleep on?" when applying for a U.S. visa, while those heading to China were asked about the reason for visiting, with "visit" being one of the available responses.

Chicken owners are dressing their animals in hi visibility jackets to help them cross the road safely. Owners are dressing their domestic flocks in new fluorescent bibs, which have been specially designed to keep the creatures seen in the autumn evenings.

The bibs are meant for the growing numbers of people who keep chickens as pets, especially in urban and suburban areas, to protect the birds from motorists.
The bibs, costing £12 and available in pink or yellow, went on sale earlier this month. Read full story here at Best dressed chicken in town: hens go hi-vis

Millions of Facebook and Twitter users are being urged to leave instructions to manage their social media accounts from beyond the grave
Social media users warned to prepare for digital afterlife.A new Digital Legacy Guide from SagaLegal.co.uk has been made available, containing advice on how people can ensure their online accounts expire when they do.
The guide covers everything from social media accounts to online logins for sites such as Amazon, Google, professional directories, supermarket voucher schemes and music and film sites. People with a significant online presence could find friends and family receiving sombre and unnecessary reminders of a recent death, for example, via poorly-timed social media birthday notifications.
More importantly, unplanned digital legacies could pose potentially harmful security issues. Any digital legacy should contain a financial element, as direct debits will continue to leave a bank account until it is frozen by the provision of a death certificate.

What would you say to this that an Alligator went for Shopping at Walmart in Florida. As per one report:

In Apopka, Florida, a 6-foot alligator decided to go to Wal-Mart on Sunday morning. Apparently that’s where all the gators shop for skin lotions and whatnot. Just outside of Orlando, the alligator stopped in the the entryway, causing the automatic doors to open and close until employees locked them.
Apopka police officers tried to lure the gator away as customers gathered to watch and take pictures. The gator took off toward the nearby woods. Officers searched the area but couldn’t find it, according to the Miami Herald.
No one was injured and the gator didn’t like the clothes anyway. It’s curious that people stopped to take pictures while the cops try to lure the 6 foot gator away. Again, they were taking pictures, instead of peeing in their pants.
Now what you have to say on it....pl. comment.

Now what would you say to this Village school teacher who always remains absent from the school but hires a boy for teaching in his place. As per one report:

A teacher of a government school at a village in Gadchiroli, in which three police jawans were killed during a landmine blast triggered by Naxals last week, has allegedly hired a 10th standard pass boy for teaching even as the former remains absent from his duty. The matter came to light on Thursday during a visit to the Motha Zalia village under Korchi taluka of the district when the villagers alleged that a 10th class pass boy had been hired by a regular school teacher to teach the 18 odd students studying in the zila parishad primary school.
Sources said the teacher appointed at the school rarely turned up, except for signing the attendance record while he had hired a village boy to render services. To add to the woes of the students, no classes were being held since the blast on October 16 damaged the school premises and no alternative arrangements have been made so far, village's ex-sarpanch Tanu Hurra said.

RANCHI: As onion prices all across the country continue to spiral, the BJP leaders in Jharkhand came up with a unique protest to mock at the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. Some of them visited a nationalized bank on Thursday to apply for loan with the stated objective of "buying onions". Read more here....Jharkhand BJP leaders apply for ‘Onion Loan’

Now a days there is spree of Gold Hunting in India & recently 6 'treasure hunters' were held for duping people & selling fake gold coins, As per one report:

The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) staff arrested six accused, including two women, and recovered 5.50 kg fake gold coins and 2 kg duplicate gold necklaces from them. The accused have been identified as Ishwar alias Rakesh from New Delhi, Lalit Kumar from New Delhi, Suresh Kumar and his mother Devi, residents of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Ramesh Solanki from New Delhi and Babli from Rohini in New Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, Deputy Commissioner of Police Harsh Bansal said the accused pretended to be labourers and contacted clients in various states. They claimed to find treasures from historic lands in Patiala, Malerkotla and then sold them.
The accused confessed their crime and admitted involvement in 24 incidents, including duping a woman doctor from Ludhiana and Amritsar resident of Rs 5 lakh each.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Yes, it's true that US cannot Hack Indian Prime Minister's Mobile Phone & Email account as He does not have one to Hack. As per one report:

India's 81-year-old prime minister does not own a mobile phone or use personal email, giving New Delhi "no cause for concern" about new US hacking revelations, his office said Friday. The Guardian newspaper reported Friday that US spies eavesdropped on the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after White House, Pentagon and State Department officials gave them the numbers. The new revelations, based on a classified document provided by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, come amid fury from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose communications were allegedly targeted.
Asked if Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was concerned, his spokesman replied: "The prime minister doesn't use a mobile phone and he doesn't have an email account.
"His office uses email, but he has no personal email... We have no information and no cause for concern," he added.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Now what would you say to this report that a CPI(M) leader in Marxist-ruled Tripura state of India laid on a Bed of Currency Notes withdrawn from his own bank account to fulfil a long cherished dream,. As per the report:Jogendranagar committee member of the CPI(M) here, Samar Acharjee, a contractor by profession, was shown lying on bundles of currency notes on television footage. Acharjee was heard in the footage saying "I have withdrawn 20 lakhs from my bank account and fulfilled my long cherished dream of sleeping on a bed of money."
But more damagingly, the CPI(M) leader said in the telecast last Thursday "I am not a hypocrite like other party members who depict themselves as proletariat, yet have a huge amount of money."
CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar said. "Preliminary investigation by the party shows that Acharjee himself took the footage on his own mobile phone which was
leaked to a television channel by his friend."

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Now what would you say to A Dress made of Chocolate. As per one report:

To celebrate Chocolate Week Graduate Fashion Week Gold Award winner 2013 Lauren Smith has created a strapless dress, entitled Eternal Diamond.The dress, which uses 50kg of chocolate and took two weeks to make, will be showcased at the Gala Chocolate Fashion Show opening night at Salon du Chocolat on Friday evening.
The dress was handcrafted then painted with the chocolate.The creations are often seen as the highlight of the world’s biggest chocolate show, which is making its London debut this year.“The elegant chocolate diamond is the iconic symbol of Lindt EXCELLENCE, which is referenced throughout the entire design, incorporated in the accessories and the embellishments, which really bring the design to life.
"Drawing on the finest ingredients that Lindt EXCELLENCE is famous for, the dress looks as good as it tastes.”

Now what would you say to this report that a Chinese couple allegedly went on an online shopping spree - which included buying a new iPhone - after they sold their baby daughter. As per the report:

A Chinese couple was busted selling their baby daughter in Shanghai and using the money to pay for a shopping spree that included a new iPhone.The couple, identified only as Mr. Teng and Ms. Zhang, pretended the woman’s baby bump was a tumor to hide the pregnancy as they looked for a buyer online, the city’s Jiefang Daily newspaper reported.But the parents — who, according to ABC News asked for offers between $4,900 and $8,200 in online postings titled, “Adopt a Baby” — maintained that they were only trying to find a better home for the little girl.“We did not send the baby off for a profit, but to give the child a better life of security,” the couple said in the Chinese-language newspaper.
Prosecutors are considering whether to charge them with human trafficking, according to the report. The couple — who share two older children together — found a buyer before giving birth to the baby girl at home, where they exchanged the newborn for cash deposited into their bank account the same day, the state media reported.

Now what would you say to this report when a Hindu Deity Boycotted a Dusshera festival, despite Invitation. As per the report:

A deity, "Larain Mahadev" in Kullu district, is staying away from Dusshera festival for the last 42 years, despite being extended official invitation to attend the weeklong festivities at Dhalpur grounds of Kullu town. The deity attended the Dussehra last time in 1971, when there was a fierce clash among two groups at Dhalpur grounds, during which, followers of Larain Mahadev had fled from the spot, leaving behind the palanquin, resulting in some scratches to it. The clash had taken place between the supporters of Shringa Rishi and Balu Nag on the issue of walking on the right side of Lord Raghunath during which, supporters from one side fired gun shots, leading to the death of a youth from Kangra. After 1971, followers of Shringa Rishi too boycotted the ceremony for 11 years. But it is Larain Mahadev, worshipped in Ujhi valley of Kullu district, who never returned to Kullu Dussehra after witnessing the bloody clash. Each year, Kullu district administration extends invitation to over 250 deities, including Larain Mahadev of Larankelo, but the latter continues to boycott the festival.

Now what would you say to this Toilet museum which exhibits weird and wonderful historical loos to campaign for better hygiene in India. As per one report:

A new museum has used hundreds of toilets to create a weird and wonderful exhibition - all to promote better hygiene in India.
The museum in New Delhi, India, has made toilets a work of art, and they are a key to finding out more about our history. The Sublabh International Museum of Toilets showcases lavatories from the 1700s, ladies' chamber pots, and French disguised toilets.
But perhaps the biggest attraction to this new world of sanitation is the replica of the throne of King Louis the XIV.
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the NGO Sulabh International, which founded the museum, said: “It is indeed a very unusual museum and it’s the only one of its kind in the world.
“A highlight of the museum is the replica of the throne of King Louis the XIV. The king is believed to have used this to defecate while conducting court sessions.”
Hundreds flock each month to browse the facts, pictures and artifacts that date back to 2,500 BC.
Let's just hope the plumbing keeps working or they will be in deep, well, trouble.
Curators scoured the globe for unusual toilets to make the display as interesting as possible, and it doesn't disappoint. There are privies, chamber pots, toilet furniture, bidets and water closets, and the information boards tell you everything you could wish to know about sanitation across the world.
Who wouldn't want to know where medieval women perched after all?
With sanitation issues worse than ever in third world countries, the museum aims to inform people of how problems have developed over time.

Now what would you say to this report which explains the Mumbai Propert prices. As per that Reakesh Jhunjhunwala bought 6 Mumbai Flats for Rs 176cr recently: As per the report:

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala on Monday bought half of a seafacing building, comprising six plush apartments, in Mumbai's upmarket Malabar Hill area owned by Standard Chartered Bank, for Rs 176 crore, more than two persons who knew details of the open bidding, told ET asking not to be named.Jhunjhunwala told ET that he did not want to confirm nor deny the development. A spokesman for Standard Chartered declined to comment. A spokesman for property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle, which was the transaction advisor, also declined to comment.
This is the fourth high-value transaction to take place in south Mumbai over the last few months. In May this year, YES Bank CEO and managing director Rana Kapoor had bought a residential building on Altamount Road from Citibank and GlaxoSmithKline for Rs 128 crore. In June, glassware manufacturer Borosil bought a seafacing duplex for Rs 43 crore.
In September, a duplex in Darshan Apartments on Mount Pleasant Road was sold to the Bulchandani family for Rs 57 crore
The who's who of the business world stays on Malabar Hill. The Ruias of Essar group, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, Adi Godrej, Pranav Mody and Venugopal Dhoot— all have homes here. The combined net worth of residents of Malabar Hill is around $30 billion.

Now what would you say to this Incident on Air India flight when Sandwich with Worms were served to one passenger. As per one report:

An Air India flier got the shock of his life when he found worms in the sandwich served to him on a New York-Delhi flight. The incident occurred on Air India flight (AI102) with a Rajouri Garden resident who asked for a sandwich and was served an infested one, sources said.
He complained with Air India authorities at the airport after arriving in Delhi on September 28, but claimed to have not received a response for a fortnight about the action taken in that regard.

Now what would you say to this Indian Politician, for whom, Jail time & Criminal record is a Badge of Honour. As per one report:

When he decided to run for a parliamentary seat from this impoverished, and mainly low-caste constituency in northeast India, Kameshwar Baitha made no effort to sugarcoat his criminal record.
Obediently, he catalogued the serious charges pending against him, all of which he says are false. There were 17 for murder, 22 for attempted murder, 6 for assault with a dangerous weapon, 5 for theft, 2 for extortion, and so on, a legacy from Baitha's previous career as a leader of the local Maoist insurgency. On top of that was the fact that he was in jail. But this did not hurt him with voters here, noted his son, Babban Kumar, who hopes to follow his father into politics. With people in this area, who look to elected leaders as Robin Hood figures, it may have helped."You have to fight against something, how else can you get into politics?" Kumar said. "Without going to jail, you cannot be a big politician."
New impulses are rippling through Indian politics this year, as a growing, urbanized middle class demands that hundreds of tainted politicians be driven from the system. Read more.....In India's politics, jail time is a badge of honour

Now what would you say to this Bride who got married in the same 1950 dress worn by her Mother AND Grandmother. As per one report:

Choosing the perfect wedding dress could not have been easier for sentimental Lucy Popovic.
The bride, 31, had imagined since she was a little child how she would look on her big day – in the white flowing gown worn by her mother AND grandmother at their weddings. Romantic Lucy said: “I had always thought the dress was beautiful – and hoped that one day I would get to wear it. I felt really lucky to be able to use it.”
The family helped her give the six decades old garment a spruce up after she announced she was to marry Australian partner Mark Popovic.
Rather strangely, they used a homemade mixture of aspirin and white vinegar to restore the dress to its former glory. And in another touch of nostalgia, Lucy and Mark picked the 63rd wedding anniversary of her gran Mel and grandad Ian Calder, who had wed in South Kensington, Central London, in 1950.
Lucy, from Solva in Pembrokeshire, Wales, said: “The occasion had extra significance to be able to share it with them.
“It will be something we will always treasure. My grandparents have had such a long and happy marriage and we hope we will be celebrating both wedding anniversaries for many years to come.”

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

If you believe in hidden treasures and supernatural powers guarding them, then this story will interest you as much as it has stirred Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Government agency is all set to dig a 19th century treasure of 1,000 tonnes of gold after a sadhu apparently dreamed about it and convinced a Union Minister that it could help alleviate some of the country’s financial troubles, an Indian Express report stated.

The sadhu, Shobhan Sarkar, had dreamt that Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh, who was martyred fighting the British in 1857 mutiny, asked him to take control of the gold buried in the remains of his fort in Daundiya Kheda village of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh.
Sadhu, who has a good amount of following in the region, informed the local administration, the State Government and even the Central Government about the dream and who without wasting much time on it began to work on it.

According to the report, initially, everyone dismissed it as a joke. However, Sarkar got worried when he heard the Government was actually planning to dig the place and will apparently take the custody of the gold in various temples.
“We were lucky that Union Minister Charan Das Mahant took it seriously and visited the spot and met Shobhan Sarkar. Since then teams of the Geological Survey of India and the ASI are working on it,” Swami Om, a disciple of Sarkar said. Mahant, who belongs to Chhattisgarh and is Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industry, visited the area on September 22 and October 7 respectively.
He told The Indian Express that he heard about the hidden treasure from a panditji from Kanpur who visits him frequently. “He told me that Shobhan Sarkar wanted to meet me. When I met him, he told me about the reserves. He said the quantity was so huge that if the Government can excavate it, it could be handy since there was a crisis with the Rupee,” Mahant said. Read more...here

Sunday, October 13, 2013

A WiFi-enabled kettle that can be controlled using a smartphone app and lets you boil water for tea from anywhere in the house has been developed.
The stainless steel 1.8 litre ikettle has been described as the 'World's first WiFi kettle'.

It comes with a wireless-equipped base station and can be switched on from anywhere in the house with your smartphone.
Users can keep the kettle and smartphone on the same network and use the app to control the functions.
The smartphone app wakes you up in the morning with a message that reads : Good Morning! Would you like me to pop the kettle on?

The user can choose between 'Yes' and 'No' option.
If they hit the 'yes' button, the kettle will start boiling water for tea.
Once boiled it will ask the user if they are ready or if they would prefer to keep it warm for a while.

Nobody likes being hungover, although that’s never stopped them from drinking before. Not in our experience anyway. The only thing worse than a hangover is some huckster claiming to have a miracle cure for your your hangover that doesn’t involve cracking a beer or getting so stoned you fall asleep in your friend’s eggs benedict while you’re sitting down at brunch.

And yet here come some scientists claiming that Sprite is actually the best at helping our body deal with hangovers. But how can we be sure they didn’t see if 7-Up worked also?The Daily Mail claims that scientists in China studied the effect that various drinks had on the body’s ability to break down alcohol.

According to the researchers at Sun-Yat Sen University, Spite helped speed up the body’s ability to make enzymes that break down alcohol, while things like tea and a fancy allegedly healthy herbal drink made with hemp seeds didn’t help as much.
Don’t expect us to run out and buy cases of Sprite before out next party though, or after for that matter either. We already gave out hangover cure above, but if you have to involve soda in yours, you should at least go with Anthony Bourdain’s cure, which at least also brings leftover Chinese and drugs into it. Plus, that guy’s been getting hangovers since before we were a nightmare in our fathers’ subconsciousness.

Police in Cambridge have staged a series of bike thefts on video to demonstrate just how easy it is for a genuine thief to walk off with a bike without being challenged or even reported.
The ‘thefts’ were staged in fairly busy public places in the city, and while the video shows plenty of people close to the ‘thief’ or even watching him, nobody even called 999.

The police have warned cyclists to use good quality locks and to lock their bikes securely to solid objects. And they have appealed to the general public to alert the police of suspicious behaviour.
According to the police, 2,100 bikes per year are stolen in Cambridge.

Many are not locked at all, locked with inadequate locks or have a lock round the frame and a wheel but not a solid object. In the video, a ‘thief’ wheels away a bike with a lock around just its rear wheel and in another sequence cuts a lock with a pair of bright orange bolt croppers without being challenged.

A UK truck driver with more regard to his dental hygiene than his safety has been caught on camera by police brushing his teeth while driving.
Hampshire police released a video on Wednesday showing a driver holding water in one hand and a toothbrush in the other while he trying to steer.

Coordinated, but also a terrible decision.
The video was part of the road regulation campaign Operation Tramline, according to the description, which led to driving offense charges against 198 people, mostly for distractions such as applying makeup or talking on the phone.

Officers hired an elevated vehicle and filmed out the window to catch drivers who weren't paying attention to the road, the description says. Mobile was designed to fit in a vehicle's cup holder. More troublesome, still, are cell phones: the organization Texting and Driving Safety put the number of U.S. crashes involving cell phones in 2011 at 1.3 million.

Indian intelligence busted an international gold smuggling racket at Chennai airport on Sunday, and in the process discovered 32 gold nuggets, weighing roughly a kilogram each. The interesting part? They were hidden in a plane toilet, as per the report.

The Air India flight had just come in from Dubai and was headed on to Delhi, which may have been the gold's final destination.
The gold was hidden in a pair of black camcorder bags. The alleged smugglers booked executive class seats, and stashed the gold in the bathroom closest to the cockpit. "We are not ruling out the role of some airline insiders," one officer says. "It is strange that no airline staff spotted two big bags inside the toilet next to the flight captain's cabin."

A septuagenarian widow has received family pension after waiting for over half a century for it.
Harapriya Devi, 77, whose husband died while serving as a lecturer in the English department in Bhubaneswar’s BJB College, received the pension in September this year.

Her husband Janakinath Nanda Choudhury had served in Odisha's premier college from 1954 to 1962 before he drowned in Mahanadi River at Jobra in Cuttack city on June 3, 1962.
“He died at the age of 29. I was 26 year old then.

I had two children to support. I took up a job of a teacher to bring them up them. I had made the pension claim at that time,” said Harapriya Devi.
The retired teacher said she ran from pillar to post to get the pension but the authorities turned a deaf ear to her pleadings. Read more.........It happens only in India: Widow gets family pension after 50 yrs

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Kautilya Pandit is five-years-old, but has already become famous, surprising everyone with his vast knowledge of politics, economics and world geography, and answering such questions with ease that would sound Greek to most children of his age.

Sonepat-born Kautilya Pandit, a child prodigy of Kohand village in Gharonda sub-tehsil in Karnal, is seen as an exceptional talent, who is busy hopping from one TV studio to another showing off his memory by answering questions on a range of topics, including population of countries, their GDP, culture, heritage and other things.
"I love reading books, they are fun.

I want to know everything about my country and the world," the boy, who studies in Class I and dubbed 'memory prince' by the media, told PTI.
Noticing the special talent in the child, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has asked the family to meet him on October 4, the child's father Satish Sharma said. Read more here

India’s temples are resisting divulging their gold holdings – perhaps nearly half the amount held in Fort Knox – amid mistrust of the motives of authorities who are trying to cut a hefty import bill that is hurting the economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has already taken steps that have slowed to a trickle the incoming supplies that have exacerbated India’s current account deficit, has sent letters to some of the country’s richest temples asking for details of their gold.
It says the inquiries are simply data collection, but Hindu groups are up in arms.

“The gold stored in temples was contributed by devotees over thousands of years and we will not allow anyone to usurp it,” said V Mohanan, secretary of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad organisation in Kerala, in a statement.
Indians buy as much as 2.3 tonnes of gold, on average, every day – the weight of a small elephant – and what they don’t give to the gods is mostly hoarded. Jewellery is handed down as heirlooms and stored away with bars and coins as a hedge against inflation or a source of quick funds in an emergency. Read More Here

Reverence for all living things is a special trait of Hinduism. But nothing prepares you for the freak show at this temple in Rajasthan overrun by thousands of overfed rats. There are more than 20,000 of them living within the temple precincts and people come from far and wide to pay them obeisance.

The temple is located in village Deshnok, 30 kilometres from Bikaner on the Jodhpur-Bikaner Highway. It is called the Karni Mata temple after the resident deity, the progenitor of the rats.
There are perhaps as many legends about Karni Mata as they are rats, and like much of Hindu mythology the story changes with every narrator.
According to the temple priest, Karni Mata lived in this village in the 14th century and was one of the reincarnations of Goddess Durga.

She was married but chose a celibate life and married off her husband to one of her younger sisters.
When a son of one of her sisters drowned in a pond, Karni Mata took his body to Yama, the Hindu god of death, and pleaded for his life. At first Yama refused, citing the inevitable law of nature, but eventually yielded and promised Karni Mata that her sister’s son would be reincarnated as a rat.

The promise came true and after that all of Karni Mata’s relatives began to be reincarnated as rats. Read more here.....Where Rats are Revered

It took five months, but Wayne Klinkel was reimbursed $500 Monday by the federal government for his dog’s expensive taste.

“It all comes out in the end,” Klinkel said, laughing. “It was great to get the check after all the crap I went through.”
The saga of Sundance began last Christmas, when the elderly golden retriever and his owners, Wayne Klinkel and his wife were on a road trip from Montana to Colorado to visit their daughter and her husband, Amy and Coty Church, in Denver.

The Klinkels stopped at a restaurant for dinner, and left Sundance in their locked vehicle. They also left five $100 bills, and a $1 bill, in a cubbyhole.
When they returned about 45 minutes later, the doors were still locked and Sundance, then 12 years old, was still inside. The $1 bill was lying on the driver’s seat. About half of a $100 bill was next to it. Read more here

A plane landed safely on a city street in California's Silicon Valley during rush-hour traffic.
The pilot noticed a malfunction shortly after take-off and was forced to make an emergency landing.
The plane managed to avoid traffic on the roadway and pulled off into a right-turn lane. Read more here

Bad luck really can be reversed by rituals such as touching wood and throwing salt, a study has suggested.
Researchers have discovered that people's elevated concerns after tempting fate can be eliminated if they engage in a ritual that involves exerting force away from themselves.

They found that engaging in the physical action can help eradicate a vivid mental image of the negative event, by literally pushing it away, making it less likely to happen.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, explained that people believe that negative outcomes are especially likely after a jinx.

If someone says, "No one I know will ever get into a car accident," for example, it often feels that a car accident is likely to occur.
But people's elevated concerns after tempting fate can be eliminated if they engage in a ritual to undo that bad luck. Read more here